People hate him, at least in part, because he is not the stereotypical aggressive "tough guy" football player, though it certainly seems he's as tough and competitive as anyone else. The incongruity gives people fits. Not to mention he's playing in the same era as Peyton Manning, who at least maintains a somewhat hokey everyman doofus-y persona.

Because he's a good looking millionaire married to a supermodel who happens to win a lot of football games, and you're a fat complainer living in a rathole who has never banged anything hot and has only ever won the my little pony jpeg posting contest?

No Soap Radio:People hate him, at least in part, because he is not the stereotypical aggressive "tough guy" football player, though it certainly seems he's as tough and competitive as anyone else. The incongruity gives people fits. Not to mention he's playing in the same era as Peyton Manning, who at least maintains a somewhat hokey everyman doofus-y persona.

No question about that. I saw a documentary about TB while he was at Michigan. He apparently started off as a freshman in the 5th string or some shiat, and was getting the crap beaten out of him in practice on a regular basis. Lloyd Carr said he just kept getting back up and not letting it affect his throws or decision-making. He ultimately played his way into the starting role, but he definitely earned it there.

That's also definitely a part of it. I think a lot of people instinctively believe that TB's success has been more or less handed to him, and that he hasn't earned it. Granted, being good looking is something that nobody earns, but there's no question he earned his success on the field, especially if you read about his college career.

you are a puppet:Because he's a good looking millionaire married to a supermodel who happens to win a lot of football games, and you're a fat complainer living in a rathole who has never banged anything hot and has only ever won the my little pony jpeg posting contest?

No Soap Radio:People hate him, at least in part, because he is not the stereotypical aggressive "tough guy" football player, though it certainly seems he's as tough and competitive as anyone else. The incongruity gives people fits. Not to mention he's playing in the same era as Peyton Manning, who at least maintains a somewhat hokey everyman doofus-y persona.

Last night, my roommate and I were discussing Philip Rivers. I FARKING HATE PHILIP RIVERS WITH A WHITE-HOT PASSION, but with Brady it's just sort of "Eh. Haters gonna hate."

Because Brady is hyper-competitive, but it shows mostly when he talks to teammates. Rivers is also hyper-competitive, but it shows in his jawing at the opposite sideline. I don't recall much of Brady shiat-talking the other squad.

Dr Dreidel:No Soap Radio: People hate him, at least in part, because he is not the stereotypical aggressive "tough guy" football player, though it certainly seems he's as tough and competitive as anyone else. The incongruity gives people fits. Not to mention he's playing in the same era as Peyton Manning, who at least maintains a somewhat hokey everyman doofus-y persona.

Last night, my roommate and I were discussing Philip Rivers. I FARKING HATE PHILIP RIVERS WITH A WHITE-HOT PASSION, but with Brady it's just sort of "Eh. Haters gonna hate."

Because Brady is hyper-competitive, but it shows mostly when he talks to teammates. Rivers is also hyper-competitive, but it shows in his jawing at the opposite sideline. I don't recall much of Brady shiat-talking the other squad.

He's had his moments when he's been prodded. Both him and Belichick clowned Anthony Smith of the Steelers a few years back when he guaranteed a win against them. He also went in on Suggs a few years back.

Brady is one of my favorite athletes of all time. His competitiveness and the way he strives to get better is at a Michael Jordan/Kobe Bryant type level.

Dr Dreidel:No Soap Radio: People hate him, at least in part, because he is not the stereotypical aggressive "tough guy" football player, though it certainly seems he's as tough and competitive as anyone else. The incongruity gives people fits. Not to mention he's playing in the same era as Peyton Manning, who at least maintains a somewhat hokey everyman doofus-y persona.

Last night, my roommate and I were discussing Philip Rivers. I FARKING HATE PHILIP RIVERS WITH A WHITE-HOT PASSION, but with Brady it's just sort of "Eh. Haters gonna hate."

Because Brady is hyper-competitive, but it shows mostly when he talks to teammates. Rivers is also hyper-competitive, but it shows in his jawing at the opposite sideline. I don't recall much of Brady shiat-talking the other squad.

Only time I can remember it happening really overtly was against the Steelers in 2007. Here was SI's writeup at the time:

"After throwing his first touchdown pass of the game on Sunday, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady weaved through the Steelers' defense, sifting through the jersey numbers until he found the one he was looking for. When he spotted number 27 -- Pittsburgh free safety Anthony Smith, who last week guaranteed a victory over New England -- Brady lit into him, barking at Smith until several players stepped in to break up the fracas. "I don't care to repeat what I said, especially if my mother reads it," Brady said later. "She wouldn't be very happy."He guaranteed victory and the Pats ran a play action play specifically designed for him to bite and they burned him for a TD on their way to a 34-13 victory.

I don't have anything against "Tom Brady," I have everything against "Wildly Successful Quarterback of a Team Against Which I Root." If he'd been the playboy quarterback of the Giants or Ravens, I'd be over the moon with him.

This. I posit that after his disappointing sixth-round selection and playing behind Bledsoe he went into a private room made a deal with Satan (I picture a long-fingernailed Willem Dafoe after the recent commercials) to crank up his career. Which of course included Bledsoe's injury, the improbable Super Bowl win over the Rams, a series of hot actresses/models, endorsements and continued success. The movie montage sequence pretty much writes itself.

And it's pretty evident he pissed off Satan on week 1 of 2008. Maybe Tom got a little too full of himself(?).

robertus:I don't have anything against "Tom Brady," I have everything against "Wildly Successful Quarterback of a Team Against Which I Root." If he'd been the playboy quarterback of the Giants or Ravens, I'd be over the moon with him.

THIS.

I despise Brady because he's a Patriot. That's bred into me from a)being born in Chicago in the 70s and having vivid memories of Superbowl XX, and b)living in Cambridge, MA long enough to observe Pats fans in the wild. fark the Patriots.

It's always bothered me that the media likes to run with the narrative of "People hate Tom Brady because he married a supermodel." Why? Is the guy happy? Is she happy? Who the hell cares? Why do we care about this? What the hell does that have to do with football?

If reporters ask her opinion of a game, that's on them. Don't like her answer? You asked.

Saw an ad on the side of a NYC bus stop last weekend -- apparently Brady is the new spokesperson for Uggs boots. Not sure how well that works. Jets fans hate him, and Giants fans probably just remember him as the guy that Justin Tuck was picking out of his teeth after those Super Bowls they won.

natural316:JudgeSmails: I don't hate Brady but I detest the drooling media that love him.

Dr Dreidel:Because Brady is hyper-competitive, but it shows mostly when he talks to teammates. Rivers is also hyper-competitive, but it shows in his jawing at the opposite sideline. I don't recall much of Brady shiat-talking the other squad.

He does it all the time.

/it's just that producers determine the narrative for QBs - every time Rivers is jawing at an opposing team, they're finding him and putting him on the screen AND commenting on it. Not so for Brady. Neither of them do it anywhere but on the field, though.

Idont hate Brady per se - dude BALLS - but I do love seeing him cry. I love how whenever he gets hit he starts bawling to to the stripes. And every QB in the league yells at his O line in the clutch, when the game is on the line. Only Brady gets the benefit of lingering camera shots showing his unparalleled leadership, fire, and cutthroat will to win. Yeah. Because no other qb does that every single game.

Transpogue:I despise Brady because he's a Patriot. That's bred into me from a)being born in Chicago in the 70s and having vivid memories of Superbowl XX, and b)living in Cambridge, MA long enough to observe Pats fans in the wild. fark the Patriots.

I can understand your B reason (although its the same for every fan group if you live near young college aged fans of any team), but how can you hate the Pats from SB XX? One of the most lopsided Superb Owls ever, and they even released a smack talking song the same year they demolished their way through the league. I guess you could hate them for not letting Payton score a TD, but you should blame Ditka more for that

I don't think Joe quite gets it. Manning and Brady are the two greatest quarterbacks of their generation, and probably all time, and they couldn't be more unlike each other. When you watch Manning play, it's technical, orchestrated, complex, and hard. Brady makes it look easy. And that drives a lot of people crazy. You look at the way most QBs struggle, the way everything in your own life is hard, and then here's this pretty boy who makes the most important position in football look easy. Manning doesn't get anywhere near that level of hate. Despite being a legacy, he looks like the hardest working, most devoted guy who ever took a snap.

Slam Bradley:Transpogue: I despise Brady because he's a Patriot. That's bred into me from a)being born in Chicago in the 70s and having vivid memories of Superbowl XX, and b)living in Cambridge, MA long enough to observe Pats fans in the wild. fark the Patriots.

I can understand your B reason (although its the same for every fan group if you live near young college aged fans of any team), but how can you hate the Pats from SB XX? One of the most lopsided Superb Owls ever, and they even released a smack talking song the same year they demolished their way through the league. I guess you could hate them for not letting Payton score a TD, but you should blame Ditka more for that

/Pats fan

The *charm* of a Bears fan is that we will talk about that game like it happened last year. We all know- we really do- that it happened almost thirty years ago and also know the many, many flaws of Ditka, but they were exacerbated by how Buddy ran the defense. But that's a whole other story...

My encounters with Pats fans were beyond the college kids-- it was also the grown adults- both white and blue collar. But again, it's through the eyes of Bears fan, and we're just brought up to despise the Patriots. We also don't get how an entire segment of the country gets a team. That's like having the Midwest Bears. Doesn't compute.

But I'm rambling now, because my coffee hasn't kicked in yet...

At the end of the day, I love the game, and enjoy despising other teams for no real football reason, because FOOTBALL.

/Packers SUCK//but we respect the Packers, because history///but they SUCK

NewWorldDan:I don't think Joe quite gets it. Manning and Brady are the two greatest quarterbacks of their generation, and probably all time, and they couldn't be more unlike each other. When you watch Manning play, it's technical, orchestrated, complex, and hard. Brady makes it look easy. And that drives a lot of people crazy. You look at the way most QBs struggle, the way everything in your own life is hard, and then here's this pretty boy who makes the most important position in football look easy. Manning doesn't get anywhere near that level of hate. Despite being a legacy, he looks like the hardest working, most devoted guy who ever took a snap.

I think you're on to something here. People love Peyton because they relate to his everyman work ethic thing. Which could all be an act btw, he certainly has as much knowledge and skill of anyone who ever played the game. Brady though looks on the field like he does in life-a good looking gifted dude who just coasts. Since a lot of hero worship in sports is relating yourself to the person you idolize, there just aren't that many people who can relate to Brady. Lots of guys can relate to Peyton and his mush mouth, and lots of guys can WISH they could live Brady's life. But very few people have any first-hand knowledge of what it must be like to be so talented, good looking and rich.

No Soap Radio:People hate him, at least in part, because he is not the stereotypical aggressive "tough guy" football player, though it certainly seems he's as tough and competitive as anyone else. The incongruity gives people fits. Not to mention he's playing in the same era as Peyton Manning, who at least maintains a somewhat hokey everyman doofus-y persona image.

fixed, dude's very aggressive, very wealthy, and holds lots of grudges - he'd make a great businessman if he wasn't playing football

the everyman thing is image really

one reason i don't like judging players based on their public image is because public images are often either crafted by the players or by agents or by the media

coolio mack:Dr Dreidel: No Soap Radio: People hate him, at least in part, because he is not the stereotypical aggressive "tough guy" football player, though it certainly seems he's as tough and competitive as anyone else. The incongruity gives people fits. Not to mention he's playing in the same era as Peyton Manning, who at least maintains a somewhat hokey everyman doofus-y persona.

Last night, my roommate and I were discussing Philip Rivers. I FARKING HATE PHILIP RIVERS WITH A WHITE-HOT PASSION, but with Brady it's just sort of "Eh. Haters gonna hate."

Because Brady is hyper-competitive, but it shows mostly when he talks to teammates. Rivers is also hyper-competitive, but it shows in his jawing at the opposite sideline. I don't recall much of Brady shiat-talking the other squad.

He's had his moments when he's been prodded. Both him and Belichick clowned Anthony Smith of the Steelers a few years back when he guaranteed a win against them. He also went in on Suggs a few years back.

Brady is one of my favorite athletes of all time. His competitiveness and the way he strives to get better is at a Michael Jordan/Kobe Bryant type level.

With Jordan and Bryant, you sense an unholy, nearly unhealthy level of competitiveness, as if there's very little else in their lives to make them human. Certainly is true for Jordan, who is by all accounts a total prick in real life, and probably for Bryant, who at least is not a gambling addict and asshole. With Brady, you have a feeling this guy actually enjoys life outside the stadium.

Girl Sailor:NewWorldDan: I don't think Joe quite gets it. Manning and Brady are the two greatest quarterbacks of their generation, and probably all time, and they couldn't be more unlike each other. When you watch Manning play, it's technical, orchestrated, complex, and hard. Brady makes it look easy. And that drives a lot of people crazy. You look at the way most QBs struggle, the way everything in your own life is hard, and then here's this pretty boy who makes the most important position in football look easy. Manning doesn't get anywhere near that level of hate. Despite being a legacy, he looks like the hardest working, most devoted guy who ever took a snap.

I think you're on to something here. People love Peyton because they relate to his everyman work ethic thing. Which could all be an act btw, he certainly has as much knowledge and skill of anyone who ever played the game. Brady though looks on the field like he does in life-a good looking gifted dude who just coasts. Since a lot of hero worship in sports is relating yourself to the person you idolize, there just aren't that many people who can relate to Brady. Lots of guys can relate to Peyton and his mush mouth, and lots of guys can WISH they could live Brady's life. But very few people have any first-hand knowledge of what it must be like to be so talented, good looking and rich.

Which one was the consensus #1 pick in the NFL two years before being drafted and which one was the overlooked 6th rounder who could hardly get the starting job in college? If true, it makes a great narrative.

Transpogue:The *charm* of a Bears fan is that we will talk about that game like it happened last year. We all know- we really do- that it happened almost thirty years ago and also know the many, many flaws of Ditka, but they were exacerbated by how Buddy ran the defense. But that's a whole other story...

You do remember that the Bears won that game, right? And the defense that year was one of the best ever?